The present invention relates to thermoelectric cooling systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to thermoelectric cooling systems with heat pipes and heat sinks.
Thermoelectric cooling systems are reliable, lightweight, and an environment-friendly alternative to traditional vapor compression systems. For cooling purposes, conventional thermoelectric cooling systems use one or more thermoelectric devices in conjunction with a DC power source. While cooling a chamber, the thermoelectric devices transfer heat from a cold side of the thermoelectric devices to a hot side of the thermoelectric devices.
When the thermoelectric cooling systems are switched off, heat flows through the thermoelectric devices from the hot side to the cold side, thereby warming the chamber to the ambient temperature.
As a result, the conventional thermoelectric cooling systems need to be switched on for long intervals of time to maintain the chamber at a desired low temperature. This increases power consumption. Thus, the conventional thermoelectric cooling systems are inefficient for cold storage purposes.
Therefore, there is a need for using heat pipes to efficiently regulate the heat flow through the thermoelectric devices.
Although heat pipes based on vapor diodes have been developed previously, there is room for improvement with respect to their structure and their attachment to the thermoelectric devices. Thus a need persists for further contributions in this area of technology.